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Situational awareness - July 1, 2019

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City

Welcome to July! Today is the last day of the first half of 2019.

Welcome to Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here are the stories we're following today:

• KSL radio host Jay Mcfarland is prepping a run for Congress against Ben McAdams.
• Tax reform task force public hearings continue.
• Trump visits North Korea.

Trivia time!

If a Republicans wins the 2020 gubernatorial election in Utah, it will mark the 11th straight election the GOP has triumphed. Utah Republicans are currently tied with Democrats in Oregon for the longest streak of gubernatorial contests won by the same party.

Several readers sent in the correct answer, but our three winners were:

• Edward Bennett
• Richard Jaussi
• Mike Mower

If you have a trivia question for our readers, send it to me at bschott@utahpolicy.com. If I use your question, I'll send you one of our limited-edition UtahPolicy.com laptop stickers. That's a pretty good deal!

My inbox is open to you!

I love hearing from you! Send your news tips or feedback to me at bschott@utahpolicy.com. or you can message me on Twitter.

The UtahPolicy.com daily newsletter gets you up to speed on the top local and national news about politics and public policy. Our news is curated by Managing Editor Bryan Schott, along with help from Golden Webb. ((Click here to subscribe))

TICK TOCK

Today is the 182nd day of the year. There are 183 days remaining in 2019.

22 days until ballots for the 2019 primary election are mailed to voters (7/23/2019)

29 days until in-person voting for the 2019 municipal primaries begins (7/30/2019)

29 days to the second Democratic presidential primary debates in Detroit (7/30/2019)

43 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)

73 days to the third Democratic presidential primary debate (9/12/2019)

127 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)

185 days until candidates can begin to gather signatures to get on the 2020 ballot (1/2/2020)

210 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020)

217 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)

246 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020)

255 days to the final day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (3/12/2020)

256 days to the opening of candidate filing for the 2020 election (3/13/2020)

274 days until the deadline for candidates to submit signatures to be placed on the 2020 primary ballot (3/31/2019)

358 days to the 2020 Utah primary election (6/23/2020)

491 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• Pignanelli and Webb: Summer fun: Tax reform, presidential debates and inland port
• A. Scott Anderson: New inland port leader brings expertise to help make Utah great
• At least 2 Republicans close to announcing run against Rep. Ben McAdams
• Sales taxes on services still sticking point in tax reform, task force told
• Conservative senator blocks Mike Lee-Kamala Harris immigration reform bill
• Salt Lake City Council overrides most of mayor's vetoes on housing funds
• Utah Democrats, Republicans readying for 2020 under new leadership
• Riverton police gear up for department's debut

Salt Lake Tribune

• Op-ed: Utah tax reform should not cut education funds
• Thousands of Utah families depend on free summer meals. Here's where the programs fall short.
• Scrapped tax overhaul bill haunts new round of talks about state's financial stability
• Kathleen Anderson - self-described 'conservative outsider' - becomes first Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams
• Utah Supreme Court clears way for the state to install $50 million emergency radio network
• Utah lawmakers hit the road selling tax reform. Will taxpayers buy it?

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Whoa! Democratic 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg's campaign says they raised a whopping $24.8 million during the second quarter of this year - https://nyti.ms/2NlZsGH

North Korea

• President Trump made a last minute visit to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un where they agreed to restart nuclear talks. During the meeting he became the first sitting U.S. president to cross into the north - http://bit.ly/2No8Edz
• The Trump administration may be on the verge of recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power, which is something they said they would never do. The new strategy may be aiming at freezing North Korean nuclear production rather than disarmament - https://nyti.ms/2NlbZtU
• President Trump claimed former President Obama tried, and failed, to meet with Kim Jong Un repeatedly during his White House tenure. Former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes says Trump is lying - http://bit.ly/2NoYEB2

China. The U.S. and China agreed to continue talks to end the trade war between the two countries, but Chinese officials warned the path to a deal could be long and difficult - https://reut.rs/2NpkJ27

Budget talks. Senate Republicans are having difficulty finding common ground on a plan to fund the government and avoid another shutdown. Congress has until the end of September to agree to a funding deal - http://bit.ly/2NoZM7L

Immigration

• Conditions at an El Paso border station are reportedly so bad, Border Patrol agents are drinking heavily and arming themselves against a possible riot - https://nbcnews.to/2NoUjOa
• President Trump says his administration will probably launch a series of immigration raids sometime after the July 4th holiday unless "something pretty miraculous" happens in talks over immigration reform with Congressional Democrats - https://cnn.it/2NqcZNB
• The Supreme Court will hear cases next term on whether President Trump lawfully ended Obama-era protections for undocumented immigrants - http://bit.ly/2NolCIe

2020

• Kamala Harris' campaign raised $2 million in the 24 hours following her impressive debate performance last week - https://nyti.ms/2NpkYKz
• Iowa voters are increasingly skeptical of former vice president Joe Biden's 2020 prospects - http://bit.ly/2Nm21s9
• The Trump campaign launched an initiative to win support from Latino voters. Critics say the outreach is odd given Trump's actions on immigration - https://wapo.st/2NmLPXK
• Democratic hopefuls are facing the prospect of being cut from the next round of debates this fall - http://bit.ly/2NpLYtE
• Facebook says they're launching an election monitoring center to prevent against interference and misinformation from spreading during the 2020 election - https://cnn.it/2NoYPwd

Ivanka Trump

• The president's daughter is being criticized for playing a central role during President Trump's visit to Japan for the G20 summit and his impromptu trip to North Korea - https://wapo.st/2NrBSZ8
• Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ripped Ivanka on Twitter saying "Being someone's daughter isn't a career qualification" - http://bit.ly/2NEnOf9

Economic record. The U.S. economy has now gone 121 months without a recession, the longest period in history. Economists are warning a significant slowdown in growth and possibly a recession are coming because of trade tensions - http://bit.ly/2NjCQ9B

Economic warnings

• A third of Americans say they've cut back on spending this year amid worries a recession is coming - https://cnb.cx/2NEpKnV
• Manufacturing is slowing down in the U.S., leading to fears of an economic slowdown - https://on.wsj.com/2NldFDI

Climate fears. Exceptionally warm temperaturs have resulted in an earlier than normal sea ice melt off the coast of Alaska, alarming residents about the effects it will have on seals and fish that provide their livelihoods - http://bit.ly/2NqXkNR

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1847 - The first U.S. postage stamps were issued.

1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg begins.

1867 - Canada was granted independence by Great Britain.

1870 - The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.

1881 - The world's first international telephone call is made between Canada and the United States

1898 - Spanish-American War: Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led a charge up Cuba's heavily fortified San Juan Hill.

1931 - Wiley Post and Harold Gatty become the first people to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engined monoplane aircraft.

1946 - The U.s. conducted its first post-war test of the atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

1963 - Zip codes are introduced for mail in the U.S.

1997 - Hong Kong was returned to China after 156 years as a British territory.

Policy News

• Nicholas Kristof: Stop the Knee-Jerk Liberalism That Hurts Its Own Cause (New York Times)
• Broke Gen X to inherit cost of Gen Z's unrealistic dreams (New York Post)
• In the social-media era, Washington's public lands are being destroyed. What can be done? (Seattle Times)
• U.S. Oil Output Tops 12 Million Barrels a Day for First Time (Bloomberg)
• O'Rourke visits Mexico, meets turned away US asylum seekers (Associated Press)
• Andrew Sullivan: The Democratic Candidates Are in a Bubble on Immigration (New York Magazine)
• Biden rejects 'old guy' label at Bay Area fundraiser (Politico)
• Pope praises Trump-Kim meeting as significant gesture, raises hopes for peace (Reuters)
• China's factory activity shrinks as U.S. tariffs, slowdown hit orders (Reuters

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